Four Late Late Show talking points, including a Trad Fest tribute to Johnny Duhan
Johnny Duhan was remembered on Friday night's Late Late Show. Picture: Kevin Byrne Photography
Members of Ireland’s music community came together to remember renowned singer and songwriter Johnny Duhan, who died last November aged 74 after drowning in Galway Bay.
Duhan wrote many well-known songs, including 'The Voyage', popularised by Christy Moore and performed on Friday night’s Late Late Show Trad Fest special.
Mike Hanrahan of Stockton's Wing fame led the group in remembering the “songwriter’s songwriter”.
“He listened to people, and he took in his surroundings and wrote about it. He was a very honest writer and he always fought a good fight for songwriters,” Hanrahan recalled.
“Even his last days, he was advocating for more Irish songs and music on our FM radio stations. He was a songwriter’s songwriter, and he wrote beautiful lyrics.”
He said Hanrahan’s death came as a particular shock.
“It was a tough year for our industry. We lost quite a few amazing people. Johnny was a shock, I think because his songs have touched so many people. People may not have seen Johnny live, but they would have always tuned in to his songs. He connected with people through his writing, which is, I think, what he always wanted to do. He was a very honest and decent writer.”
Hanrahan was remembered with a performance of 'The Voyage', which Patrick Kielty described as a “fitting tribute”.
Aoife Scott, daughter of Frances Black, spoke about her recent performances in India before singing 'Caledonia' during the show.
Scott recently returned from an “unbelievable” tour of India.
“I actually can't get over the reaction to Irish traditional music being played in India, like it just blew my mind. Everybody going mad and dancing at the end,” she said.
She credits “the love and the heart” of Irish music with its popularity among international audiences.
“We're enjoying ourselves so much [on stage] that I think that just spreads over so much, and we love it so much, there's just so much passion with us that it just goes into the audience. You can kind of win people over like that, even if they don't understand it.”
She also spoke a little of her recent engagement to fellow band member, Andy Meaney, saying it didn’t come as a huge surprise to her.
“It was 11 years later, he got badgered into it,” she laughed.
July singer Mundy shared his concern about the government's lack of support for traditional Irish music in pubs.
He said being part of Trad Fest feels like “finding your tribe” and he has met many people through music sessions.
“You just get to meet people that you didn't think you'd meet,” he said, adding that he fears for the future of that scene as public spaces like pubs and cafés face growing pressure.
“All those places are the best of poetry, of art, of music, and it just seems like they're under so much pressure to keep going. A song is written in a bedroom or somewhere like that … but it's actually executed in a session in the pub.
“Americans, Germans, people from all over the world, come to Ireland to feel this magic. And I have to say, the government, they're doing not much, I just feel that they have to kind of really support it.”
Dublin-born comedian David Nihill spoke about overcoming a fear of public speaking with standup comedy before becoming the biggest-selling Irish comedian in America.
He said a fundraiser for a friend who sustained a spinal cord injury was the inspiration for his comedy debut after he was asked to host the event — despite his phobia.
“No one ever tells you, you don't really get over fear, but you learn how to manage it. So I just got on stage and one or two hours turns into 10,000 later, and you're still doing it. The catalyst was to just try and get through that fundraiser and it became an ongoing event that we've been doing for the last 12 years, raising money for people with spinal cord injuries.”
Nihill said much of his content is about the “totally mad stories” about his family, including his parents’ marriage and his mother’s time working in America, both of which led to a uniquely bizarre situation.
“It transpires that my mother was an illegal immigrant travelling on the passport of a dead two-year-old who she was also in an involuntary lesbian relationship with, nursing back to health the mother of a guy competing on an anti-illegal immigration mandate,” he summarised.
